4th Generation Airport Extreme signal is too weak?

I have a 4th generation Airport Extreme and have 2 Apple TVs. The Airport Extreme is tied to my office where I do most of my work and would like to keep it here. The problem is that the signal is not reaching the basement TV and it takes at least 15+ minutes at times to load up movies from my iTunes Library (located on my main floor) to stream to our basement theater. Should I just invest in another Airport Extreme to help carry the signal down to the basement? If so, to save money should I just buy another 4th generation or bite the bullet and get a 5th generation?
Thanks!

Also, can I just buy an Airport Express instead of an Extreme if I am just using it as a repeater?

Similar Messages

Will an old Airport Express work with a 4th generation AirPort Extreme?

My Airport Express model A1084 will not seem to work with my 4th generation AirPort Extreme.
I've tried everything I could think of to get it to work.
I am able to set it up(Extend existing network) with a copy of Snow Leopard but although it has a green light and seems to be working, I can't pick up a signal on any of my devices. Everything on iStumbler looks ok to me except the channel on the Airport express is 3 and the Extreme is 149. The Express is on the 2.4 ghz and the Extreme is 5ghz. What should I look for on iStumbler that might give me a clue?
Thanks,
Mot

The A1084 does not have a setting to "extend a wireless network", so it cannot be used for that purpose with the newer AirPort Extreme.
The A1084 Express can "join" the wireless network provided by the AirPort Extreme, and be used for AirPlay and to run a remote USB printer, but the Express does not provide any additional wireless signal coverage when it joins a wireless network.
You need the new A1392 version of the Express or the previous version, the A1264 if you want the Express to "extend" a wireless network wirelessly.
The older A1084 Express could be used to provide more wireless coverage if you can permanently connect the Express to the Extreme with a wired Ethernet cable connection.

I have the 4th Generation Airport Extreme, is it time to upgrade?

I'm currently using the 4th Generation Airport Extreme (Model A1354) and was wondering if it was time to upgrade, especially with the new 6th(?) generation being relased June 12th?
I know this maybe a simple question but any help would be appreciated!
Cheers,
Andrew

In order to take advantage of the new 802.11ac performance on the new AirPort Extreme, you will have to buy one or more new MacBook Air laptops.
That is the only computer offered by Apple that can utilize the 802.11ac capabilities of the new AirPort Extreme.
Apple indicates that new Mac Book Pros with 802.11ac capability will be introduced at a later time.
You will receive no real performance benefit with the new AirPort Extreme using your current wireless devices. The only exception might be a bit better signal reception with the new "tower" antenna design.
The bottom line for most users.....unless you plan to add new 802.11ac computer hardware in the near future, there is probably no reason to buy a new 802.11ac router now.....unless you really like the styling.
Curiously, the new AirPort Extrme still uses older 2.0 USB technology, while a number of other manufacturers offer faster 3.0 USB products.

The USB port on my 4th generation Airport Extreme does not recognize any peripheral devices whatsoever. In other words, it does not function at all. What can I do?

I have had my Airport Extreme for almost a year now. I have not been able to get it to work. It has never worked. I have tried everything in the apple manuals, my peripheral device manuals, and online help. My Airport Extreme Base Station has a completely dead USB port. The USB connector does have voltage and ground. Apparently there is no data transfer. I do not know how to test the data pinouts. I don't know if it is a software or driver problem, or if it is a hardware or wiring problem. My computer is a mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro. All of my external devices work well with the MacBook Pro. The USB functionality on the MacBook Pro has always performed without a glitch. It seems the problem with the Airport Extreme must either be a network communication problem or a hardware/hardwire problem. I bought the Airport Extreme to build a home inTRAnet network. I have a seperate 3rd party router for inTERnet. Contrary to what the manuals declare, the initial setup of my Airport Extreme requires inTERnet setup during the process. Even when the choice is made to limit the network access to LAN only, when I reach the end of the setup process, a prompts reads that the Airport Extreme may not function because I have not set it up for inTERnet with the WAN. Well, Dah... during the intial stages of the setup I told the machine to configure an inTRAnet only LAN setup. So... I went ahead and set it up for inTERnet and WAN. Either way, the USB port is not working. Then I set it up for the whole package, WAN, LAN, and everything. Still... no function out of the USB port. Any ideas?
P.S. The Ethernet works and so does the 802.11 tranceiver. The USB port is the only problem, but a major, major one for my needs. There is no peripheral functionality.

Okay so I figured it out. I inherited the Configurator already set up so I didn't realize that our former administrator was brilliant and set things up a little differently. To anyone else who finds themselves in this spot try this:
After you plug the iPad in and open Configurator instead of trying to 'Prepare' the device click 'Assign'
There should be groups of Users listed on the left hand side of the screen.
Select the group you want the ipad to be a part of, or make a new group. ***Note a group can be one person so this is a good feature for teachers to have individual app assignements for students.
After you select the user group click the little plus ( + ) button on the bottom of the screen under the second column of info where names and device serial numbers should appear.
Type the name of the person, group, whatever you want to identify that assignment by into the blank that pops up after you hit the plus ( + )
Then select the assignment you just made and tohe 'Check Our' button at the bottom. At this point a box will pop up with a window at the top listing all devices supervised by Configurator. There is a tiny down arrow button that opens a scroll down menu to the right of this box. Click that, then select the device connected by USB as the one to assign.
The name of the assignment you gave it will show on the lock screen now and you can assign apps and profiles to the device like you would any other device in your Configurator inventory.
Good Luck.

Why is my airport extreme signal strength so weak on my macbook pro?

I live in a 4 story brownstone, next to neighbors with lots of wireless routers. My macbook pro (OS X 10.6.8) frequently is dropped from my airport extreme router. The strange thing is, the macbook receives a much stronger connection to my next door neighbor's wireless router (which is behind 2 brick walls, and down 1 floor) than it does to my airport extreme router - located 15 feet to my right with no interfering walls. In fact, I can stay solidly connected to my neighbor's router even when I'm 2 floors above him.
There are 4 other devices in my house connected to my airport extreme router. All have no problems connecting.
An ipad, which moves around from floor to floor, even outside on my front stoop.
A stationary imac located 4 inches away from the router
A stationary brother laser printer, about 10 feet to the right of the router (no interfering walls)
A stationary lexmark inket printer, about 10 feet in front of the router (behind 1 partition wall)
What can I do to troubleshoot this?

Problem solved. My router had some significant interference from a neighbours router that is no longer an issue.

Where can I find a power supply for 2nd - 5th Generation Airport Extreme?

I have an Airport Extreme that needs a power supply and cord. Where can I purchase one? Is this something Apple sells separately? Or, if someone could supply the part numbef for their power supply that could aid in my search, that would be great. I have a 4th generation AirPort Extreme that needs one. Thanks!

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-EADP-20BB-supply-AirPort-Extreme/dp/B00AAQ3JE8/ref =pd_sim_sbs_e_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=07Z3H174172XDAET831A

6th Generation Airport Extreme Freezing During Time Machine Backups using LaCie 1TB Hard Drive

I recently upgraded from a 4th generation Airport Extreme (short, dual band n) to a new 6th generation Airport Extreme (tall, dual-band ac) in the hopes of having quicker backups and better WiFi performance (I also just got a 13" retina MacBook Pro).
The upgrade has gone poorly, to say the least. Initially, I set up the new Airport Extreme as I had for the old one. Then I plugged in the same hard drive I was using (a LaCie 1 TB d2 Quadra USB2 drive that I bought in June of 2009). I decided to setup my wife's Time Machine backup first (she has a 2010 MacBook Air). I removed the "old" disk (the one associated with the old base station) from her Time Machine configuration, and set up her Time Machine configuration to backup to the same disk on the new Airport Extreme. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it picked up her existing Time Machine backup and incrementally synchronized to it (the backup size was about 300 MB). A few days later, she warned me that Time Machine told her that backups were not working. When I went to look, it was indeed failing.
I tried a few things that didn't work, and I suspected that maybe the backup "transfer" hadn't gone so smoothly as it seemed, so I decided to erase the drive using Disk Utility and start the backup over again. To my disappointment, I found that the backup got about 200MB-1.5GB into the backup and "froze." I left it overnight, and it was at exactly the same place the next morning. The light on the disk connected to the Airport Extreme flashed constantly all the time, and I could hear it spinning, but nothing happened at all.
When I tried to stop the backup, it took a very long time. In the logs, I would see a message like this (this log is from my machine, not my wife's, but it looks the same):
11/19/13 9:40:59.276 PM com.apple.backupd[93334]: Forcing deep traversal on source: "***-mpbr" (device: /dev/disk0s2 mount: '/' fsUUID: 7356274E-D28F-3BC0-9CA8-7F1AA21830B4 eventDBUUID: 99941F9A-AD5F-4FAF-94D2-701C94CA9581)
11/19/13 9:41:57.609 PM com.apple.backupd[93334]: Total content size: 148.2 GB excluded items size: 17.16 GB for volume ***-mpbr
11/19/13 9:41:57.610 PM com.apple.backupd[93334]: Found 674166 files (131.05 GB) needing backup
11/19/13 9:41:57.611 PM com.apple.backupd[93334]: 152.52 GB required (including padding), 498.67 GB available
11/19/13 9:41:57.625 PM com.apple.backupd[93334]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
11/19/13 9:59:22.407 PM UserEventAgent[11]: com.apple.backupd-auto launchd job disabled
11/19/13 10:00:15.103 PM com.apple.backupd[93334]: Cancellation timed out - exiting
Looking at the Airport Extreme in Finder, I saw that it got stuck, either "Connected as" me, or "Connecting...". The Airport Extreme wouldn't respond to the "Disconnect" or "Connect As..." buttons (depending on the context), and the eject button for the Airport Extreme itself in the sidebar was also unresponsive. Eventually, after 2+ minutes, I got a dialog saying "Couldn't connect to [my base station name]" with instructions to "check its IP" and contact my system administrator if the problem persists. During this time, Finder can seem frozen and unstable.
Through all of the above, the hard disk kept spinning and the light flashed constantly. The drive was warm to the touch in the morning.
I also found that when all this happened, I was unable to connect to the Airport device using Airport Utility. I I couldn't administer it, but the Internet continued to work for all connected devices. Unplugging the disk and plugging it back in worked immediately to bring the system back to a working state. I didn;t even have to power-cycle or reset the Airport Extreme.
I tried a number of things to correct this behavior:
Disabled Time Machine, removed disk, restarted machine, reconfigured Time Machine, and retried.
Tried backup on my 13" Retina MacBook Pro and my wife's MacBook Air.
I actually tried with TWO new 6th Generation Airport Extremes. The first one was a refurbished one. I returned it to Apple and purchased a brand new one. Both of them exhibited the behavior I described above.
Workaround:
Finally, I switched the drive out for a spare that I have (an older Western Digital MyBook and used it for a backup. This drive "Just worked."
So, I have switched to that for backup for now, and re-purposed the LaCie as a drive that I use for making periodic images of my hard drive using SuperDuper. The drive seems to work perfectly (and worked perfectly for several years with older Airport Extreme base stations), so I can only assume there's a bug in the USB driver of the current 6th-generation Airport Extreme.
I hope this helps someone else who's as confused as I was. If anyone has had a similar experience, I would very much like to read about it. I will be reporting this problem to apple right after I post this topic. Please do the same if you experience this issue.

As Bob says, backing-up that way isn't supported.
It's also unreliable. It may work for a while, but this forum, and the Time Machine forums, have many, many posts like this:
*"I've been backing-up via an Airport Extreme for* <some number of days, weeks, or months> *and all of a sudden my backups are corrupted beyond repair."*
In my case, it's happened about 4 times in a year. And that's with a desktop Mac, about 12 feet from the Airport, with the exact same hardware in exactly the same place and no interference.
It is very convenient, especially with laptops. If you want to take the risk, see [Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme Air Disk|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Airport.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
But do yourself a LARGE favor and take the prominent advice to keep secondary backups, and update them frequently. Sooner or later, you're probably going to need them.

Difference 4th and 5th generation AirPort Extreme

Hello
what exactly is the difference between the 4th and the 5th generation AirPort Extreme?

I understand. You really have two options at this point:
Add another Express near the stereo and configure it to "join" the wireless network, assuming that you have the "mid-point" Express configured to "Extend a wireless network".
Connect your single AirPort Express using an Ethernet connection. If you cannot run the EThrnet cable, take a look at a pair of Ethernet power line adatpers to send the Ethernet signal over the AC power lines in your home.

Can I boost the DSL signal using my 1st Generation Airport Extreme or Express? Also, can I get wireless printing?

Can I boost the DSL signal using my 1st Generation Airport Extreme or Express?
I just moved into a house where they have ATT DSL and it is really slow in my room. I am hoping that I don't have to purchase a booster and I might be able to use my Airport Extreme or Express to boost it. I don't think they want my Extreme as their router, though. They are PC.
I am also hoping that I can set up a wireless printing situation in my room using the Express or Extreme.
I am running 10.4.11 on my old MacBook Pro laptop, 10.5.something on my old desktop (MacMini).
Thanks for any help ahead of time,
Carole

Can I boost the DSL signal using my 1st Generation Airport Extreme or Express?
I just moved into a house where they have ATT DSL and it is really slow in my room. I am hoping that I don't have to purchase a booster and I might be able to use my Airport Extreme or Express to boost it.
Unfortunately, this won't work especially if you want the connection between the routers to be wireless. The two are just not compatible for configuring an extended network. However, it could work if you can have them interconnected by wire. In that case, you could configure them into a roaming network.
I don't think they want my Extreme as their router, though. They are PC.
This shouldn't be an issue as the AirPorts support wireless clients regardless of which operating system they are running.

Airport Extreme Signal Weaker than Before

My Airport Extreme signal is weaker than it used to be. Nothing has changed except I can no longer connect to the internet without running diagnostics each time I try to use it. It will connect and then stay connected until my macbook goes to sleep. When it wakes up, I have to re-connect using diagnostics.
I am using it in the same room I always have and never had problems before. But for the past several weeks, it is just not behaving as it always has. I have checked for a firmware update, but airport utility doesn't indicate that one is available. It's running: Version 6.3.2.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It's run great for the past several years. This is a new issue...

Because I can no longer connect to the internet without running diagnostics each time I try to use it. It will connect and then stay connected until my macbook goes to sleep. When it wakes up, I have to re-connect using diagnostics.
I am using it in the same room I always have and never had problems before. It will connect without problems in other rooms that are closer to the base station. But from the room where I ordinarily connect, it won't automatically connect anymore.
I can get it to connect from that room, and it will stay connected, but I can only do so by running diagnostics, telling it to assist me and then selecting the network and and following the steps to connect.

Time to upgrade my 1st Generation Airport Extreme?

As the title says, thinking it's time to upgrade my 1st Generation Airport Extreme (Draft 'n') to the latest 5th generation model, just to be clear my existing Extreme is the current form factor white square design and not the very earlier dome version (although I did have one of those too once upon a time).
Here's my thinking/question, current Extreme has been a great trusty workhorse since new, reliable and generally rock solid performance, however a recent upgrade to a super fast 'Fibre To The Home' internet connection is making me think it's time for an upgrade to solve low speed/throughput issues with the current Extreme setup.
With my current iMac networked to the wall mounted Fibre (1000 Mbps ethernet) router via Cat 5e I'm getting amazing speeds on speedtest.net (i.e 760 Mbps down and 228 Mbps up), however when wirelessly connected to the Extreme with my iPhone 4S and MacBook (Black) I get the following speedtest.net results:
iPhone 4S: 17 Mbps down and 34 Mbps up
Macbook: 24 Mbps down and 63 Mbps up
(Interesting that the uploads seem to have better connection/throughput than the downloads, normally the opposite applies?)
I understand that the current Extreme is somewhat crippled as it features 100 Mbps Ethernet ports (latest models have 1000 Mbps), however the wireless speeds still seem way below what I would expect (i.e. nearer 100 Mbps), both the 4S and Macbook are within feet of the Extreme.
The Extreme is set to 'n' only 2.4 Ghz, bridge mode (letting the wall mounted Fibre router do all the routing/DHCP work) via Ethernet Cat5 from one of the 4 Ethernet ports on the wall mounted Fibre router to the Extreme WAN port, tried various channels, 1, 6 and 11. Current Firmware 7.6.1 on the extreme. I have also disabled the wireless connection/network on the Fibre router to avoid any possible interference with the Airport network.
So my main question is, should I look to upgrade to the latest Extreme model, will this improve the wireless speeds, based on my setup what wireless speeds could/should I expect with a new Extreme, or am I missing/overlooking something within the current setup?
Thanks in advance.

Thanks John, this certainly helped.
Speedtest.net results:
2.5 Ghz n: 19 Mbps down and 53 Mbps up
5.0 Ghz n: 28 Mbps down and 58 Mbps up
It also came to light that I wasn't using the best of the speedtest.net servers to do my testing, by accident I selected a different one (Newbury UK - Vodafone) to the one I had been using (Milton Keynes UK) and the Newbury server indicated download speeds of around 50 Mbps, which I feel much happier with.
Seriously considering a new Extreme for the simultaneous 'n' networks, 1000 Mbps ports and no doubt improved components, antenna etc.
Will report back if/when set up.
Thanks again.

How to set up 6th Generation AirPort Extreme to cable modem as a wireless router and then connect my 3rd Generation Time Capsule to AirPort Extreme as a wireless extender?

What is the best way to set up my 6th Generation AirPort Extreme (A1521) to my cable modem as a wireless router and then connect my 3rd Generation Time Capsule (A1355) to my AirPort Extreme as a wireless extender? I live in a small 1 story house and I currently have the Airport Extreme connected to my cable modem in the living room and the Time Capsule plugged into the wall in my bedroom. I am able to wirelessly connect to the internet using the AirPort Extreme as my router and I can also do wireless back ups to my Time Capsule. My problem is that my connection seems to be really slow! My 1TB Time Capsule back up is only half way complete and it has been 3 days! My computer has been backing up all day and night for almost 72 hours and its still not even 75% complete. I have backed up to this Time Capsule in the past and it never took this long. I am thinking that when I set up my AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule using AirPort Utility I must have set it up incorrectly or something.
How do I set up my Airport Extreme and Time Capsule for the fastest possible internet speed and back up speed?
Thank you,

AirPort Utility 5.6 works with AirPort Extreme 802.11g base stations.
It works with N version airports.
It will also show details of the AC model but cannot be used for the setup.. mostly.
I purposely got the new 6th Gen Airport Extreme so my internet connection would be a lot faster!
Your network will be much faster when you have AC client directly connected to the AE. Older client will go no faster.. but what is worse.. extend wireless is mixing new and old wireless standards.. guess what one wins.. OLD.. So when you extend wireless.. you have no improvement whatsoever. This whole post is about extending wireless.. so you cannot extend to older equipment and do any better.. maybe slightly better signal although from your comments that isn't happening either.
I would rather not have to use an ethernet at all with the TC and I don't know EOP adapters are!
If you do not use ethernet then you are going to be forced to accept slow speed.
EOP (ethernet over power). Also called homeplug in the US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug
Provides a method of networking over power cabling that already exists in your house.
So what your saying is for the fastest internet speed and back up speed possible I should keep my Airport Extreme plugged into my Modem and keep my TC set up as a wireless extender? Then when I want to do back ups I should plug an ethernet cable from my TC to my MacBook Pro?
To spell this out.
A wireless link to an extended device will go very slowly.. if it is not direct.
So lets say you have a laptop sitting in the lounge.. Your connection goes.. Laptop- - - - - AE- - - - -TC.
That means two wireless links.. wireless has this nasty half duplex and single channel nature.. it can send or receive (Tx or Rx) but not at the same time.
Ethernet by contrast does both at once. It is full duplex.
Wireless can talk to one client at a time.. so if there are multiple items using wireless lets say 4 devices.. then your computer gets a 25% time slice. Since wireless cannot handle multiple simultaneous connections.
Ethernet by contrast can connect multiple computers to multiple destinations at the same time.. all transmitting and receiving at full speed.
When you put all this together.. there are a couple of rules for fast connection.
1. Use ethernet at all times. Where you cannot use ethernet use anything but wireless.. eg EOP (homeplug) at least to try and get rid of wireless.
2. Where you must use wireless use it sparingly and make sure it is never more than one hop.. ie never have an extend wireless (repeater is more usual term). Repeater will cause instant slowdown of 50% and maybe up to 75% just because it is so inefficient.
3. Fastest wireless is 5ghz but it has very short range.. you need to be up close and personal to get it working.
Apple routers however unless you do manual setup I suggest are set to connect to best signal strength not best speed. It will therefore use 2.4ghz at 25% less speed than 5ghz because it is 1db better signal.. this madness means you need to setup manually for the best setup.

My internet speed is super slow with wifi. I have a 5th generation Airport Extreme

I have a 5th generation Airport Extreme and a 2nd generation Airport Express as an extender. I have Xfinity as my broadband provider and live in a decent size condo. In the last two months, the speed through my wifi has been horrible. In most cases, I can only get 2mpbs download and barely 1mpbs upload. The hard line connection through my iMac gives me 150mpbs download and 50+mpbs upload consistently. I've reset my routers and check for the latest software. I'm wondering if the interference from my neighbors wifi signals are to blame. Can someone please help me in restoring some decent speed with my wifi network?

It's entirely possible that the problem is interference, although resetting the Airports should force them to search for and lock in on the clearest channel available to minimize that.
Start by simplifying the network. Shut off the Express. Test while connected to the Extreme via WiFi. How's the performance? Can you ping the hard wired iMac from the Wireless network?

My 2nd generation Airport Extreme very slow via wireless (5 and belows mbps) wired over 20. Please help!

My 2nd generation Airport Extreme very slow via wireless (5 and belows mbps) wired over 20. Please help! What could it be?

It is very possible that you may have some form of Wi-Fi interference nearby that is preventing your AEBSn from providing a clean RF signal on the 2.4 GHz band.
I suggest you perform a simple site survey, using utilities like iStumbler, or AirRadar to determine potential areas of interference, and then, try to either eliminate or significantly reduce them where possible.

What is the newest Model or Generation Airport Extreme?

What is the newest Model or Generation Airport Extreme? And would the Time Capusle have all the same fuctions as an Airport Extreme with the added benefits of storage?

What is the newest Model or Generation Airport Extreme?
5th Generation AirPort Extreme
And would the Time Capusle have all the same fuctions as an Airport Extreme with the added benefits of storage?
Yes. Newest Time Capsules are 4th Generation models available in 2 TB and 3 TB versions.
Just so Apple can confuse things though, the AirPort Extreme in the 4th Generation Time Capsule is the same AirPort Extreme as the 5th Generation Extreme.

4th Generation Airport Extreme signal is too weak?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for